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Sunday, June 6, 2010

CD 101 - Updates and Index Post

So I've done some updates to some of the Cloth Diapering 101 posts. Here is a summary and an index to all the posts in case you missed any. You can also get to them by using the tags, but this can help you link directly to the one you are interested in.

Wetbags - in preparation for the 5-day trip (wherein I have no idea if we will be near a laundromat, and not sure I trust my diapers to a laundromat machine, so I may have to carry 5 days of dirty diapers with us) I needed another wetbag. While at a signing playgroup at Mama's Hip in Louisville, a beautiful Wahmies wet bag caught my eye, so I bought it (impulse shopper!). It is (a) beautiful, (b) smaller in size than my Loving Touch one, and the PUL is a little thinner, but (c) it has a neat feature ...

A clip on the hanging loop means that you can loop it through bars on a crib or changing table. Nifty!

Covers - in the covers post I talked about Thirsties covers alot, since I think they are the best covers out there. I mentioned that I was using the sized covers, and hadn't tried the Duo Wraps yet. Well, when I got the Duo Diaper prints and fell in LOVE, I decided to get my favorite print in the cover. With the pockets, after a two-hour stint they sit in the wetbag until washing. With a cover, you can keep them on longer and just change the prefold inside. So now I can say that I HAVE tried the Duo wrap, and it works exactly as perfectly as the sized covers - except that the Duo covers two sizes and will save you money. How freaking awesome is that?

Prefolds - I found a new prefold. It is incredible and wonderful and I just had to tell you about it. It's kinda pricey, but it may be worth it. It's an awesome diaper. It's the Thirsties Duo Hemp Prefold. This is an ingenious idea. They've always sold the covers, but then you had to buy the prefolds from someone else. Now you can buy your entire diapering system from them. Very cool. But the best part ... is the design, the material, and the size.

Design - the Duo prefold is sewn in a large loop. This will make it easier for the layers to be washed clean, and should shorten drying time. Important, because the material is mostly hemp, which takes a long time to dry. The first few washes did take a long time to dry, but drying time shortened during the prep process.

Material - the material is their hemp/cotton jersey, and it is so soft. When they say "buttery soft" in their promotional writing, they are Not Kidding. It feels like the ideal material to have next to your bottom. Hemp is very absorbent, which makes it perfect. Hemp takes more prep - 3 washes before first use and several more to get it to its optimal absorbency.

Size - in traditional prefold sizing, there is a gap between "infant" sized prefolds, and "premium" size. For most babies outgrowing the "infant" size, the premium size is too long, and becomes bulky if you have to fold down the extra. Two solutions previously existed - buy "capri" length, or have your prefolds cut and re-serged. Then Green Mountain Diapers came out with red-edged prefolds (what we currently use). They fit in a medium sized Thirsties cover, or the Size Two Duo on small snap setting, very well. These Thirsties hemp prefolds (size Two) are the size of the red-edge cotton prefolds. In other words, they fill that size gap very well between the infant size and the "too big" size. There is a Size One Duo prefold, that I didn't get. It is designed to fit in the Size One wrap, and I imagine it is probably around the size of the green-edge "infant" prefolds.

Nighttime Diapering - since the demise of one of our nighttime diapers, and the other two becoming increasingly too tight around her thighs, we have altered our nighttime diapering system. We now use a Thirsties Duo Diaper with its normal microfiber/hemp duo insert, supplemented with a bamboo/zorb insert from Bam Booty Baby. She's a Canadian mama that had a store on Hyenacart, and I can't for the life of me find a link. But here and here are some that are kindof similar if you are interested.

This is helpful. I realize that I haven't done a post on fitteds, even though I intended to do that a while back. And I'm way overdue for the Cloth Wipes post. Stay tuned, there's more to learn about cloth diapering!!!

3 comments:

Thanks :-).Am a bit nervous about how to put on the prefolds - do I do the kite fold or do I just wrap it around her and fasten it?? Tried practicing on a teddy, but it is too soft.. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it goes, lol.

As for cloth wipes - my plan [yes, I really should have done it already and not just plan!] is to take a tettra diaper and cut it up.. But will be interested to read what you have to say about cloth wipes!

I have done prefolds two ways. One way is the jelly roll. I lay the prefold open and flat against the back of the cover, then lay the baby bottom on that. I then roll in the sides until the rolls are about two inches apart, then bring the front of the diaper and front of the cover up in between the legs, and fasten the cover.

Now, I basically take the prefold and fold into thirds and lay in the cover. I fan the back out just a little to cover more in the back, and then pull the diaper and cover through the legs and fasten.

I'll look for some links online - once I found some photos that were helpful.